Basic Color Theory

Color theory is a practical combination of art and science used to determine which colors look good together.

The color wheel was invented by Isaac Newton in 1666, who mapped the color spectrum to a circle. The color wheel is the basis of color theory because it shows the relationship between colors.

Artists and designers use colors that look good together aka match to create a particular look or feel. Color wheel can be used to find color harmonies using the rules of color theory.

There are two types of color wheels. RYB, or the red, yellow, blue color wheel, is often used by artists as it helps to combine paint colors. Then there is the RGB or the red, green and blue color wheel. It is designed for online use because it means mixing light not pigments, like on your computer screen. We will focus on the RGB color wheel in section 2.

Color theory is both the science and art of using color.